Sunday, August 30, 2009

Polar Bear! Polar Bear!

Polar Bear, Polar Bear

Your ice is melting all around you.

What will you do?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear,

Can you find a strong ice patch

To sit upon while you eat your catch?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear,

Without that tasty seal for dinner

You will get thinner and thinner.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear

You are the biggest bear of all

We must listen to your call.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Sassafras Travels From The New World To The Old World

The role of sassafras for Americans, and subsequently, Europeans is a story worth telling. The Spanish discovered the tree in the 1500’s and began shipping it to Europe. Some believe they also named the tree. However, sassafras is the Indian word for tree so there is some doubt. Moreover, sassafras, one of the top 100 common trees in American, was important to many tribes. The Choctaw Indians along the Gulf Coast taught the French how to make “file.” These ground sassafras leaves will thicken soup. Many other native Americans used the sassafras tree, including the Cherokee, Chippewa, Choctaw, Creek, Delaware, Oklahoma, Houma, Iroquois, Kosati, Mohegan, Nanticoke, Rappahannock, Seminole.

There is no question that when the Spanish exported this strong citrus root and leaves to Europe they started a health craze equal to any we see today. The Europeans considered it an elixir for rheumatism, wounds and even, old age. If you were to dig up the root and peel back the bark, the spicy smell will immediately remind you of root beer because the root of this tree is used to make this soda. Some tea drinkers enjoy the root's taste regardless of its medicinal benefit. Others use the root to make brown dye.

By the way, I would like identify the other 99 most common trees in America? Any ideas?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sassafras Tea, Anyone?

The best thing about nature reading is making the discovery in real life. This happened to me today. Lately I have been learning more about the sassafras tree. Now I know there are those of you who think my discovery is akin to a toddler picking up a stick. When I spotted the very identifiable three-lobed leaf, I picked and crushed it ,enjoying its lemony scent... nature’s magic. I cannot wait to share this moment with my granddaughter. Still excited about my discovery, I set out on a more thorough internet search. One of first bits of information I learned, as I usually do on these journeys, is that I am not the first to investigate the sassafras story. And, in this case, our country’s early history is very closely connected to the sassafras tree. Another blogger explained what I thought I saw today-very different leaf shapes on the same tree- but dismissed as impossible.

Another interesting fact is that Amazon lists over 100 books with "sassafras" in the title. Of course, there is Sassafras the elephant, caterpillar, poodle, or skunk. I guess the repeating s's attract attention. But the tree received a lot more attention as a medicinal cure. More on the sassafras story tomorrow.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Where Have All The Codfish Gone?

Where have all the codfish gone,

Asked the hungry seal to the polar bear?

Where have the codfish gone,

Asked the salmon to the narwhal?

Where have all the codfish gone,

Asked the ivory gull to all his Arctic friends?

The codfish asked

Where have all my plants and plankton gone?

Melted away. Melted away, sighed the little boy

Sitting in the sun.

Let us work towards keeping this environmental nursery rhyme a tale, not a truth.